Holy - Root and Branch

Daily Reading: Romans 11

Scripture Focus: If the root is holy, so are the branches. (Romans 11.16b)

Devotional Thought: A few weeks ago I took my chainsaw out to cut down a couple dead ash trees in my yard. I tried and tried to start it. My son-in-law tried. My daughter's friend tried. None of us could make the thing go. We could get it to fire - even run for a few seconds - but it just wouldn't stay running. We guessed that the problem was probably 'bad' fuel. We knew that if the gas had spoiled, there was no way we could get the thing to run, so we gave up.

When something is wrong on the inside, then eventually it will show up on the outside, won't it? Our walk with Christ is like that. Like that gas in my chainsaw, a bad spirit within us will cause us to misfire and sputter out. But the good news is that the inside can be replaced! That's right. Jesus can make us new, make us holy. And when that happens the fruit that appears on the branches is also holy! What's on the inside shows up on the outside!

In the Bible God has said, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules" (Ezekiel 36.26-27). God starts his work on the inside and then it shows up - it always shows up - on the outside!

Prayer: Father, thank you for making me holy on the inside through the blood of Jesus and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Grant me power to live out what you have put in. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 1 The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah (Psalms 24:1-6)